Ghana and Burkina Faso have reportedly begun a bilateral meeting to address cross-border signal interference. The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso began the meeting, held virtually, on 19 August.
The meeting, which was expected to conclude today, brings together representatives from both countries, including regulators and mobile network operators, to deliberate on strategies and finalise a frequency coordination agreement that will help mitigate interference challenges along their common borders.
As the Acting Director General of the NCA, Rev Ing Edmund Fianko, noted, Ghana had already signed a frequency agreement with Togo and looked forward to concluding a similar arrangement with Burkina Faso.
This initiative was in response to complaints received from consumers along the Ghana–Burkina Faso border regarding interference issues. The aim is that provisions will be made for minimum signal strength across the border, and that operators on both sides must comply with the new thresholds once agreed.
The meetings provide an opportunity to examine the results of the measurements taken during the last joint spectrum monitoring exercise conducted along the borders of the two countries between October and December 2024.
Cross-border interference in Africa has been in the news more than once recently. Earlier this month we reported that the communications regulators of the Congo-Brazzaville and Angola had taken a decisive step in bilateral cooperation in the management of radio frequency spectrum to reduce interference problems along the common border of the two countries, which is 231 kilometres long.
